What happens if I miss a lead change in reining?

Missing a lead change in reining — failing to execute the flying change at the required location, changing only in front with the hind lead following late, or continuing on the same lead past the change point — results in a penalty that is one of the more significant deductions available in the scoring system. The missed lead change penalty reflects a failure to execute one of the pattern's required maneuvers correctly, which is treated differently from a quality reduction on a maneuver that was attempted and completed with some deficiency. A late change — where the front lead changes correctly but the hind lead follows one or more strides later — may incur a smaller deduction than a missed change where no change occurs at all, depending on the specific rules of the organization and the degree of lateness. For a beginner, a missed or late lead change is genuinely one of the more costly errors in a pattern run, but it does not mean the run is over or that the remaining maneuvers cannot score well. Continue riding forward after the missed change rather than attempting to go back and re-do it, because attempting a re-do in the show pen is not possible under the rules and visible indecision after the error costs more than simply continuing. In subsequent training, a missed lead change in competition should be evaluated for its specific cause — was the change late because the horse changed front but not behind, indicating a straightness or strength issue? Was it missed entirely, indicating the horse did not receive the cue or did not yet understand it? Each specific cause points to a different training response that makes the next competition attempt more likely to succeed.